Gray-headed Kingfisher

SCI Name:  Halcyon leucocephala
Protonym:  Alcedo leucocephala Natursyst.Suppl. Suppl. p.94
Taxonomy:  Coraciiformes / Alcedinidae / Halcyon
Taxonomy Code:  gyhkin1
Type Locality:  Senegal.
Author:  Statius Muller
Publish Year:  1776
IUCN Status:  Least Concern

DEFINITIONS

HALCYON
(Alcedinidae; Ϯ Woodland Kingfisher H. senegalensis) Gr. αλκυων alkuōn, αλκυονος alkuonos  mythical bird, long associated with the kingfisher, which nested on the sea.  It was beloved of the gods, who calmed the waves whilst it incubated and raised its young, and such periods of peace and calm became known as “halcyon days”; "HALCYON collaris.  Collared Crabeater.   GENERIC CHARACTER.  Rostrum longissimum, rectum, validum, ad basin latius quam altius, lateribus tetragonis; mandibula superiore rectissima, ad basin rotundata; inferiore carinata, recurvata, margine superioris inferiorum obtegente.  Nares basales, membrana tectæ, apertura nuda, lineari obliqua.  Cauda plerumque mediocris.  Pedes gressorii, digito antico interiore minimo aut nullo.  Typus Genericus Alcedo Senegalensis. Linn.   ...   REFERRING to the observations we have already made on Kingsfishers generally, it will be only necessary to observe, that the species now formed into the genus Halcyon appear entirely excluded from the American continent: their bills are much stronger, thicker, and more rounded than the genuine Kingsfishers, and the under mandible beneath invariably carinated and curving upwards. One of them (the Alcedo Senegalensis of Latham) is known to feed on crabs, the breaking and disjointing of which this structure seems admirably calculated to accomplish   ...   The situation of Halcyon will be between Alcedo and Dacelo; from the last of which it is distinguished by its perfectly straight, acute, and entire upper mandible, which, on the contrary, in Dacelo is notched, the tip bent and obtuse." (Swainson 1821); "Halcyon Swainson, Zool. Illustr., 1, 1820-21 (1821), text to pl. 27.  Type, by original designation, Alcedo senegalensis Linné." (Peters, 1945, V, p. 193).       
Var. Halcion.   
Synon. Alcyon, Calialcyon, Cancrophaga, Cecilia, Ceciliella, Cedola, Chelicutia, Chelicutona, Entomobia, Entomophila, Entomothera, Halcyonopa, Nutchera, Pagurothera, Plesialcyon, Pseudhalcyon.
● (syn. Alcedo Ϯ Common Kingfisher A. atthis ispida) "Halcyon alcedo, King Fisher." (Morris 1837).

leucocephala / leucocephalos / leucocephalus
Gr. λευκοκεφαλος leukokephalos  white-headed  < λευκος leukos  white;
-κεφαλος -kephalos  -headed  < κεφαλη kephalē  head.
● "44. PSITTACUS.  ...  leucocephalus.  26. P. brachyurus viridis, remigibus cæruleis, fronte alba.  Psittacus leucocephalus. Aldr. ornith. l. 11. c. 8. Raj. av. 31.  Psittacus viridis, fronte alba, collo rubro. Frisch. av. 4. t. 46.  Psittacus viridis, capite albo. Edw. av. 166. t. 166.  Habitat in America.  Corpus magnitudine Cuculi, viride pennis margine nigris. Caput supra & ad latera cæruleum; fronte oculorumque regione alba. Gula tota rubra. Remiges nigræ latere exteriore denudato cæruleæ. Rectrices æquales, virides, basi rubræ, apice flavescentes; at 1. 1. latere exteriore cæruleo; 6. 6. unicolores. Abdomen postice ferrugineum." (Linnaeus 1758) (Amazona).
● ex “White-headed Shrike” of Latham 1781 (syn. Artamella viridis).
● ex "White-headed Curlew" of Latham 1785 (?syn. Bostrychia hagedash).
● ex “Gavilán de Estero cabeza blanca” of de Azara 1802-1805, no. 13 (subsp. Busarellus nigricollis).
● ex “Héron de la côte de Coromandel” of d’Aubenton 1765-1781, pl. 906, “Héron violet” of de Buffon 1770-1786, and “Violet Heron” of Latham 1785 (syn. Ciconia episcopus).
● ex “Rauhfuss Geyer” and “Gelbbrauner Geyer” of Frisch 1733, “Falco” of Brisson 1760, and “White-headed Falcon” of Latham 1781 (syn. Falco peregrinus).
● ex “White-headed Frigate” of Latham 1785 (syn. Fregata aquila).
● ex “Bald Eagle” of Catesby 1731, and “Aigle à tête blanche” of Brisson 1760 (Haliaeetus).
● ex “Merle Dominiquain de la Chine” of Sonnerat 1782, and “White-headed Thrush” of Latham 1783 (Hypsipetes).
● ex “Gobe-mouche à ventre jaune de Cayenne” of d’Aubenton 1765-1781, pl. 569, fig. 2 (syn. Myiozetetes cayanensis).
● ex “White Vulture” and “Cinereous Vulture” of Willughhby 1676, “Vultur albus” of Ray 1713, “Vultur leucocephalus” of Brisson 1760, “Vautour de Norwège” of d’Aubenton 1765-1781, pl. 429, and “Petit Vautour” of de Buffon 1770-1783 (syn. Neophron percnopterus).
● ex “Bald pate” of Ray 1713, “Columba capite albo” of Sloane 1725, and “White-crown’d Pigeon” of Catesby 1731 (Patagioenas).
● ex “Martin-Pêcheur de Java” of d’Aubenton 1765-1781, pl. 757, “Martin-pêcheur à tête et cou couleur de paille” of de Buffon 1770-1786, and “White-headed Kingsfisher” of Latham 1782 (syn. Pelargopsis capensis javana).
● ex “White-headed Finch” of Latham 1787 (syn. Stagonopleura guttata).
● ex “Lindo azul cabeza blanca” of de Azara 1802-1805, no. 93 (syn. Stephanophorus diadematus).
● ex “Quatoztli” of Hernandez 1651, and Seba 1734-1745, and “Tangara brasiliensis leucocephala” of Brisson 1760 (unident.).

SUBSPECIES

Gray-headed Kingfisher (acteon)
SCI Name: Halcyon leucocephala acteon
acteon
Gr. myth. Actaeon, a hunter who dared to approach Diana and her attendants whilst she was bathing.  She turned him into a stag, and he was torn to pieces by his own pack of hounds (subsp. Halcyon leucocephala).

Gray-headed Kingfisher (semicaerulea)
SCI Name: Halcyon leucocephala semicaerulea
semicaerulea
L. semi-  half-  < semis, semissis  half  < as, assis  whole; caeruleus   azure-blue.
● ex “Alcedo brachyura, dorso postico, cauda medioque alarum caeruleis, humeris nigris, capite pectoreque cinereo, ventre ferrugineo” of Forskål 1775 (subsp. Halycon leucocephala).

Gray-headed Kingfisher (leucocephala)
SCI Name: Halcyon leucocephala leucocephala
leucocephala / leucocephalos / leucocephalus
Gr. λευκοκεφαλος leukokephalos  white-headed  < λευκος leukos  white;
-κεφαλος -kephalos  -headed  < κεφαλη kephalē  head.
● "44. PSITTACUS.  ...  leucocephalus.  26. P. brachyurus viridis, remigibus cæruleis, fronte alba.  Psittacus leucocephalus. Aldr. ornith. l. 11. c. 8. Raj. av. 31.  Psittacus viridis, fronte alba, collo rubro. Frisch. av. 4. t. 46.  Psittacus viridis, capite albo. Edw. av. 166. t. 166.  Habitat in America.  Corpus magnitudine Cuculi, viride pennis margine nigris. Caput supra & ad latera cæruleum; fronte oculorumque regione alba. Gula tota rubra. Remiges nigræ latere exteriore denudato cæruleæ. Rectrices æquales, virides, basi rubræ, apice flavescentes; at 1. 1. latere exteriore cæruleo; 6. 6. unicolores. Abdomen postice ferrugineum." (Linnaeus 1758) (Amazona).
● ex “White-headed Shrike” of Latham 1781 (syn. Artamella viridis).
● ex "White-headed Curlew" of Latham 1785 (?syn. Bostrychia hagedash).
● ex “Gavilán de Estero cabeza blanca” of de Azara 1802-1805, no. 13 (subsp. Busarellus nigricollis).
● ex “Héron de la côte de Coromandel” of d’Aubenton 1765-1781, pl. 906, “Héron violet” of de Buffon 1770-1786, and “Violet Heron” of Latham 1785 (syn. Ciconia episcopus).
● ex “Rauhfuss Geyer” and “Gelbbrauner Geyer” of Frisch 1733, “Falco” of Brisson 1760, and “White-headed Falcon” of Latham 1781 (syn. Falco peregrinus).
● ex “White-headed Frigate” of Latham 1785 (syn. Fregata aquila).
● ex “Bald Eagle” of Catesby 1731, and “Aigle à tête blanche” of Brisson 1760 (Haliaeetus).
● ex “Merle Dominiquain de la Chine” of Sonnerat 1782, and “White-headed Thrush” of Latham 1783 (Hypsipetes).
● ex “Gobe-mouche à ventre jaune de Cayenne” of d’Aubenton 1765-1781, pl. 569, fig. 2 (syn. Myiozetetes cayanensis).
● ex “White Vulture” and “Cinereous Vulture” of Willughhby 1676, “Vultur albus” of Ray 1713, “Vultur leucocephalus” of Brisson 1760, “Vautour de Norwège” of d’Aubenton 1765-1781, pl. 429, and “Petit Vautour” of de Buffon 1770-1783 (syn. Neophron percnopterus).
● ex “Bald pate” of Ray 1713, “Columba capite albo” of Sloane 1725, and “White-crown’d Pigeon” of Catesby 1731 (Patagioenas).
● ex “Martin-Pêcheur de Java” of d’Aubenton 1765-1781, pl. 757, “Martin-pêcheur à tête et cou couleur de paille” of de Buffon 1770-1786, and “White-headed Kingsfisher” of Latham 1782 (syn. Pelargopsis capensis javana).
● ex “White-headed Finch” of Latham 1787 (syn. Stagonopleura guttata).
● ex “Lindo azul cabeza blanca” of de Azara 1802-1805, no. 93 (syn. Stephanophorus diadematus).
● ex “Quatoztli” of Hernandez 1651, and Seba 1734-1745, and “Tangara brasiliensis leucocephala” of Brisson 1760 (unident.).

Gray-headed Kingfisher (hyacinthina)
SCI Name: Halcyon leucocephala hyacinthina
hyacinthina / hyacinthinus
L. hyacinthinus  hyacinthine, of the hyacinth  < Gr. ὑακινθινος huakinthinos  hyacinthine  < ὑακινθος huakinthos  hyacinth.

Gray-headed Kingfisher (pallidiventris)
SCI Name: Halcyon leucocephala pallidiventris
pallidiventer / pallidiventris
L. pallidus  pale  < pallere  to be pale; venter, ventris  belly.